Assessment of "look-alike" packaging designs related to medication errors using information technology.

This study aimed to assess the similarity among press-through pack (PTP) sheets of pharmaceutical products in Japan. The appearance of PTPs was assessed using a pharmaceutical design database (PDD) of 2,750 pharmaceutical tablets comprising approximately 40 % of the 6,840 products marketed in Japan. Package sheet color (Sc), tablet color (Tc), character color (Cc), sheet line color (SLc), and upper color (Uc) were used to evaluate the uniformity of PTP sheet design. To assess the risk of misidentification, 1,000 prescriptions for 82,273 cancer patients were retrieved from 21,026,742 records in the claims database of the Japan Medical Data Center Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan. The most frequent PTP sheet colors for 143 drugs were Sc (silver), Tc (white), Cc (blue), SLc (none), and Uc (silver). The prescribing pattern of 1000 randomly chosen prescriptions was analyzed. Database records of prescriptions without tablets (n = 69), including only one PTP tablet (n = 292), and those with lack of PDD prescription data (n = 388) were excluded. Eventually, 236 prescriptions were evaluated. Fourteen prescriptions (5.9%) had PTP sheets with five matching elements and 29 had with four matching elements (12.3%). This novel PDD database for information technology concept easily identified similar PTP sheets involved in prescriptions dispensed in 18 % of evaluated cancer patients. The concept seems to be applicable for preventing look-alike dispensing errors.

Biomechanics and structural adaptations of the rat femur after hindlimb suspension and treadmill running

We microscopically and mechanically evaluated the femurs of rats subjected to hindlimb unloading (tail suspension) followed by treadmill training. Female Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups containing 12-14 rats: control I (118 days old), control II (139 days old), suspended (tail suspension for 28 days), suspended-released (released for 21 days after 28 days of suspension), and suspended-trained (trained for 21 days after 28 days of suspension). We measured bone resistance by bending-compression mechanical tests of the entire proximal half of the femur and three-point bending tests of diaphyseal cortical bone. We determined bone microstructure by tetracycline labeling of trabecular and cortical bone. We found that tail suspension weakened bone (ultimate load = 86.3 ± 13.5 N, tenacity modulus = 0.027 ± 0.011 MPa·m vs ultimate load = 101.5 ± 10.5 N, tenacity modulus = 0.019 ± 0.006 MPa·m in control I animals). The tenacity modulus for suspended and released animals was 0.023 ± 0.010 MPa·m vs 0.046 ± 0.018 MPa·m for trained animals and 0.035 ± 0.010 MPa·m for control animals. These data indicate that normal activity and training resulted in recovered bone resistance, but suspended-released rats presented femoral head flattening and earlier closure of the growth plate. Microscopically, we found that suspension inhibited new bone subperiosteal and endosteal formation. The bone disuse atrophy secondary to hypoactivity in rats can be reversed by an early regime of exercising, which is more advantageous than ordinary cage activities alone.

Biomechanics and structural adaptations of the rat femur after hindlimb suspension and treadmill running.

We microscopically and mechanically evaluated the femurs of rats subjected to hindlimb unloading (tail suspension) followed by treadmill training. Female Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups containing 12-14 rats: control I (118 days old), control II (139 days old), suspended (tail suspension for 28 days), suspended-released (released for 21 days after 28 days of suspension), and suspended-trained (trained for 21 days after 28 days of suspension). We measured bone resistance by bending-compression mechanical tests of the entire proximal half of the femur and three-point bending tests of diaphyseal cortical bone. We determined bone microstructure by tetracycline labeling of trabecular and cortical bone. We found that tail suspension weakened bone (ultimate load = 86.3 +/- 13.5 N, tenacity modulus = 0.027 +/- 0.011 MPa.m vs ultimate load = 101.5 +/- 10.5 N, tenacity modulus = 0.019 +/- 0.006 MPa.m in control I animals). The tenacity modulus for suspended and released animals was 0.023 +/- 0.010 MPa.m vs 0.046 +/- 0.018 MPa.m for trained animals and 0.035 +/- 0.010 MPa.m for control animals. These data indicate that normal activity and training resulted in recovered bone resistance, but suspended-released rats presented femoral head flattening and earlier closure of the growth plate. Microscopically, we found that suspension inhibited new bone subperiosteal and endosteal formation. The bone disuse atrophy secondary to hypoactivity in rats can be reversed by an early regime of exercising, which is more advantageous than ordinary cage activities alone.

Morphological comparison of different protocols of skeletal muscle remobilization in rats after hindlimb suspension.

The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of different remobilization protocols in different skeletal muscles considering the changes induced by hindlimb suspension of the tail. Thirty-six female Wistar rats were divided into six groups: control I, control II, suspended, suspended free, suspended trained on a declined treadmill and suspended trained on a flat treadmill. Fragments of soleus and tibialis anterior (TA) muscle were frozen and processed by different histochemical methods. The suspended soleus showed a significant increase in the proportional number of intermediate/hybrid fibers and a decrease in the number of type I fibers. Some of these changes proved to be reversible after remobilization. The three remobilization programs led to the recovery of both the proportional number of fibers and their size. The TA muscle presented a significant increase in the number and size of type I fibers and a cell size reduction of type IIB fibers, which were recovered after training on a declined treadmill and free movement. Especially regarding the soleus, the present findings indicate that, among the protocols, training on a declined treadmill was found to induce changes of a more regenerative nature, seemingly indicating a better tissue restructuring after the suspension procedure.

Análise biomecânica do peritônio de bovino conservado em diferentes meios

O artigo não apresenta resumo.

Spectrophotometric determination of ascorbic acid with iron(III) and p-carboxyphenylfluorone in a cationic surfactant micellar medium.

A simple and highly sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of ascorbic acid (AA) was established by using iron(III) and p-carboxyphenylfluorone (PCPF) in a cationic surfactant micellar medium. The apparent molar absorptivity of the proposed method, which does not require an extraction procedure, was 2.05 x 10(6) dm3 mol-1 cm-1 at 655 nm. Beer's law was obeyed in the concentration range of 0.02-0.12 microgram/cm3 for AA. The procedure was successfully applied to assays of AA in pharmaceutical preparations. It is suggested that the method is based on a coupled redox-complexation reaction in which the first step is the oxidation of AA by iron(III), and the second step includes the formations of the iron(II)-PCPF (1:2) complex and the dehydroascorbic acid-iron(III)-PCPF (1:1:2) complex.

Activation of Ca2+-activated K+ channels in human myometrium by nitric oxide.

To investigate the mechanism of human uterine smooth muscle relaxation, the activation of Ca2+-activated K+ channels in cultured myometrial cells obtained from human pregnant myometrium at term by nitric oxide was evaluated at the single cell level using the patch-clamp technique. The open probability of the K+ channel after the addition of 3 x 10(-3) M isosorbide dinitrate, a nitric oxide donor (0.116 +/- 0.048) was significantly higher than that before the addition (0.059 +/- 0.032; n = 9, p < 0.01). In myometrial cells pretreated with lipopolysaccharide, activation of K+ channels was also noted after the addition of L-arginine (10(-4) M; open probability increased from 0.179 +/- 0.076 to 0.380 +/- 0.105, n = 9, p < 0.01: 10(-3) M; open probability increased from 0.073 +/- 0.050 to 0.242 +/- 0.098, n = 12, p < 0.01). Either 10(-3) M N-nitro-L-arginine-methyl-ester, an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, or 10(-6) M methylene blue, an inhibitor of guanylate cyclase, abolished activation of the K+ channel by 10(-3) M L-arginine in pretreated myometrial cells with lipopolysaccharide. Application of 10(-3) M L-arginine to the intracellular surface of an excised inside-out patch in the myometrial cells pretreated with lipopolysaccharide failed to increase Ca2+-activated K+ channel activity, suggesting that the activation was mediated by intracellular messengers. These results indicate that nitric oxide should control human myometrial relaxation during pregnancy via activation of Ca2+-activated K+ channels.